Opinion: Gingrich Under Fire

Dan Henninger on Thursday's GOP presidential debate in Iowa.

This transcript has been automatically generated and may not be 100% accurate.

... the average under fire welcomed opinion Journal I've her with our columnist in Emminger Dan thanks for being a bigger ... worst and I was late to debate on Fox of ... send it Gingrich Ed but his toughest challenge yet in terms of ... people coming at a particular Michele Bachmann ... wins very tough very substantive ... making big damaging the questions and a ... and the ... debating points ... Dell up Congresswoman Bachmann has been very hard ... and ... just proceed up by saying I thought other than that he did pretty well ... talk but United numbing United Nations charges of Korea forty said about judges and energy ... in every Tele spoke ... he did and he dances away at the end of which the audience to kind of film coming up off their seat ... read the Gingrich has this ability to his rhetoric and really pump people and there is some substance to it ... but skip back to Bachmann and Freddie Mac ... Mrs. Bachmann said that he was supporting the scale ... she hit him hard ... and then he ... responded with another one of his answers about the only supports ... institutions to share his values among his values are affordable housing ... wasn't ... all that good ... come to the aid of ... its common today and you've got the Securities Exchange Commission ... charging six executives of Freddie ... and Fannie ... of ... flawed ... she called it a scam ... yes EC says it's wrong ... I think this is terrible for Newt Gingrich that the SCC ... is saying that ... the sale of these on all day subprime mortgages ... that that be and that the volume of them was somehow concealed ... by Fannie and Freddie ... and whatever that the deal so that it is somehow I think going to sweep over the speaker Gingrich ... he's ... got to really quick come up with the way TV repudiate his association ... with Freddie or I think his numbers are gonna start to decline well I I would think it has to be some kind of apology ... or or or repudiation because he's basically saying ... look I was a businessman ... this is not really businesses that may influence peddling in Washington ... and he's tried but look I was a historian for that but ... historians don't get paid thirty grand a month to give ... advice to companies in this situation ... so it's got a is the acknowledgment here is giving advice basically on how to fight regulation ... right at the dawn of the housing bubble again if he hadn't given them the advice service if they haven't acted on but ... who knows all of this but that would ... avoid but it was not a boy ... and and he's bidding to become the Republican nominee to run in the general action in front of one hundred and twenty three million American voters ... and if the American electorate believes anything ... is that the mortgage crisis the financial crisis of two thousand and eight indoors until this day there for one K's are suffering unemployment is at nine percent and is connected to something that was going on back then ... and Fannie and Freddie were a big part of that the SCC lawsuit is simply going to elevate that tremendously ... and I agree with you James that ... Newt Gingrich has to find a way to meet or repudiated ... and announce that ... or he's going to suffer the consequences ... or for your column this week he liked all candidates is is full but he actually of what some other big names of the Republican Party ... the new year and it is here right ... it is this ... what what was that this is it because we have here a large body of work ... as Republican voters want to rethink this is something that is handled well can be overlooked in the still life has a strong case or do you think this kind of drags on and a continues to dog him for the ... rest the campaign ... well ... I think most of what we're seeing out there in the country and what's with the Democrats and President ... Obama is approval rating is up forty four percent ... it's below forty percent among independents ... the public is not ... happy with Brock Obama ... they're not happy with these two candidates that Gingrich and Mitt Romney particular way ... they do have to make a choice and I think there is ... the Dubai default and large global ... there's a big forgiveness factor here yes I mean we gotta choose one of the ... you know ... it's gonna make the US so far some of the Psalms there ... and so ... I think and what was saying in the column this week was ... if ... Newt can somehow hold his ... himself together in a way ... that gets him through these primaries which ... after all they run all the way to Joan were talking about six months to get new Gingrich does not blow himself up and sold ... in over ... the establishment as saying by June I don't think you're also welcome the general election ... now that's putting a heavy burden on him to be sure because he's just kind of electric ... but ... he does have the wherewithal might think ... to make something of a self conduit ... okay though out we've been talking about the Romney is getting richer their strengths and weaknesses of course ... but there are still look to other folks in a state judge ... did it was last night New CEO of the broke out of there are of ... the role of little bit either exceeding or ... are failing to meet expectations yet it's the it's going to be very hard ... in the national polls and a lover simply say ... we've been relying mainly on poles and mainly on these debates ... I can't wait till next month ... we're going have some real stories that were ... taught to return at the moment ... Gingrich's of thirty three percent national poll Romney is a twenty three percent and after that it's a big drop off down to single ... figures I think at this point it's extremely difficult for any of them to get higher than that ... the one who has the wherewithal is Rick Perry governor Perry ... because he has a lot of money he has between ten and fifteen million dollars to spare ... the last might use likening insulted him to bow to the ... right of the Denver Broncos in the semi to be the Tim Tebow Ohio ... well ... I've watched Tim Tebow every Sunday ... and at the end of the game this guy is on his own twenty yard line at all the Sonny's on the other guys twenty yard line across going nots and the roaring across the goal line ... Rick Perry on the other hand is on his own twenty yard line ... and last night getting gives ... I mean that's really which are hoping to carry doesn't get sacked again well ... the long run ... it's true or even complete what passes early in this campaign by the surviving so busy I was in the third time in the fourth quarter's mentor ... to many fond of the things that aren't